A five year plan has been made to restore the structures in this historic graveyard. We seek your kind help to fund this work. We greatly appreciate any donation given.
Location
Tea Lane is situated 500m west of the centre of Celbridge town (Oakleypark townland, Civil Parish of Kildrought), on a ridge (59.8m O.D.) overlooking the river Liffey (51.1m O.D.). The grid reference for the centre of the graveyard is 696779 733039.
Tea Lane is situated 500m west of the centre of Celbridge town (Oakleypark townland, Civil Parish of Kildrought), on a ridge (59.8m O.D.) overlooking the river Liffey (51.1m O.D.). The grid reference for the centre of the graveyard is 696779 733039.
Photos
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Dongan Family
Tea Lane is the burial ground of the Dongan family, former owners of Castletown, some of whom lost their lives at the battle of the Boyne in 1690. In 1995 a plaque in honour of Thomas Dongan of Castletown, who had served as Governor General of New York in the 1680s, was unveiled at Tea Lane graveyard by the then American Ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy-Smith.
“Speaker” Conolly
William `Speaker` Conolly of Castletown was buried at Tea Lane in 1729. His funeral procession from Capel Street to Celbridge was said to be the finest funeral seen in Ireland for many a year. Conolly left large sums of money in his will to ensure his funeral would be marked on a grand scale. Mourners were given linen scarves to wear as a gesture of support to the Irish linen industry, which began a tradition that continued throughout the century.
Grattan Mausoleum
The Grattan family vault abuts the western wall of the graveyard and holds the remains of Henry Grattan the younger, his wife and five children. This Henry Grattan was the son of Henry Grattan, the famous politician and statesman, who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish parliament and which resulted in ‘Grattan’s Parliament’. The younger Henry Grattan was also an M.P. and worked with Daniel O Connell to repeal the Act of Union. He wrote the Life and Times of the Rt. Hon. Henry Grattan, (1839) a biography of his father.
